DIY: Absolute Easiest e46 Starter Replacement

**HzMeister** · 09-05-2018, 01:37 AM

I just finished replacing the starter in my 04 330ci 6spd and wanted to give a few pointers to make one of the most annoying jobs on an e46 a little easier.

Most of the guides out there suggest removing the intake manifold when replacing the starter. There is A LOT of stuff that needs to be removed when going that route so I wanted to avoid it if I could. Luckily I found that it's not only possible to do it without removing it, but fairly easy with the right tools.

There are plenty of guides already with wrench sizes, etc. so I'm not going to go over that here. This is more of an overview of the general approach I took and not a step-by-step guide.

Here is what the engine bay looks like with everything you need to remove. Pretty much all that needs to come off is the cabin air filter housing and the plastic pieces covering the interior blower fan.

Once you gain enough access to see the firewall, the top starter bolt is accessible. (In the pic the lower bolt is already removed) I also cut a piece of the firewall out to get some more clearance, but it's not strictly necessary.

Here is the tool I used for the top bolt. It's an e12 socket with the sides ground flat for a wrench to fit on. Most guides suggest to use a 3/8 box wrench for the top bolt, but I wouldn't take that kind of a risk - if it gets rounded, you're f****d.

Here is a top view with the tool installed. The short length of pipe was used to get more leverage. The windshield cowl was removed to get more clearance but you might not have to - I needed to do it for another tool I was experimenting with earlier.

That's all that's needed for the top bolt.

For the bottom bolt:

The two main pieces that need to be removed are the splash guard and aluminum brace.
[not pictured]

This is the tool I used to for the bottom bolt. It's the e12 socket, a wobbly extension, and a long extension. When I first removed it with the firewall hole-free, I used a u-joint adapter because it was tighter and I wasn't sure of the exact orientation - I didn't use one when installing however.

The tool needs to be long enough to go over the top/side of the transmission to reach the bottom bolt.

In the middle-right part of the picture, across from the starter, you can just barely see the tool seated on the bolt. I held it in place with my left hand while torquing it with my right. I also removed the lower control arm bolts for better maneuverability. The only other thing that needs to be removed is a small black canister mounted on a single bolt(not pictured). It will be fairly obvious once you're under the car.

To break the old starter free I used my left hand to wobble it loose until there was enough room to fit a flat screwdriver in and pry it out.

To get the wiring off, remove the big red ones with the starter still mounted, and the two small ones with it off because they are harder to reach. Disconnect the battery beforehand.

There was a lot of trial an error that I had to go through so it took half a day to do it. If I had to do it again, it wouldn't take more than a couple hours.

Backup images: https://postimg.cc/gallery/1662vqfw8/